The Arkansaw traveler., 1887-12-31

preacher was Sucn that over quart of good liquor ran to earth and was lost beyond recall.
 "Wall, Pm blamed. A preacher, by all that's holy l" he gasped.
 "That's so," answered Seth. "But he's none O yer darned totes, you bet. Takes his whisky straight, same as his gospel. My sort ter a t, an yOurn too, eh, Jim?"
 "K'rect as usual, Seth, k'rect as usual"
 This was Jim's set form of reply to Seth. Jim never differed from Seth. Seth's six shooter was potent fac tor towards conviction. Jim knew that.
 One by one as their timidity wore off the men came in and pretty soon the saloon was crowded. The novelty of a preacher in Sloppy Gulch was wonderful enough but preacher in Wall Eyed Jim's saloon was more wonderful still.
 As time wore on glasses clinked merrily, voices rose high, the pres ence of the preacher lost it's deterrent effect and fierce oath and profane jest and ribald song assumed their wonted swing. Whatever the thoughts of the preacher, he said nothing, in fact, more than once something like sup pressed chuckle was heard to proceed from the neighborhood of his larynx.
 It was during momentary Hull in the uproar that the preacher gave ut- terance to the remarkable expression of opinion mentioned at the con- mencement of the story: "The man as kills a fly savin' in the way O kind ness ain't fit ter live" Upon what small axles do big wheels revolve. It was only small insect that caused this outburst of philosophical rhetoric-a fly attempt ing to crawl up the side of Seth's glass.
 Seth was about to make short work of the insect. His hand was raised in the air preparatory to descent which would have flattened it out beyond all recognition when the preacher in- terposed. As it was Seth's arm dropped powerless to his side, and in laiterlnS tones ne sal0:
 "Fer tender heart gimme a preachers" When he had carefully taken the insect up and removed it out of dangers reach, the preacher raised his voice to an oratorical pitch, and said:
 "Pards, at this festive season, peace on airth and good will ter men should be our motter, and mercy should be showed ter all livin' things. Brother Seth, here, 'ud killed thet fly that never harmed him, nohow. Let us be merciful and then we may expect mercy. Gen,'n my glass is empty."
 He dropped tear and after his glass had been filled took long gulp, and continued:
 "Pards, the quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth as the gentle dew from heaven upon the airth be- heath. Shakespeare or Bacon, dunno which, one or tuzzer (hic)."
 The last glass had apparently got its hand in quickly for he had only proceeded thus far when he gave an inarticulate gurgle, slid off the perch tIitt iCil Wltii st uuli tiluu IO tllc ilOOE where he lay helpless with his head pillowed in a spitoon.
 Some of the "boys" quickly rallied round and protfered such assistance as their own state-now far from one of sobriety-admitted.
 Seth tenderly bent down to raise the preachers head. The next mo- ment wild yell like a chorus of in- furiated tigers rang through the sa- loon. The preachers scalp had come off in Seth's hands, the blue goggles had fallen from his eyes, and the ven- erable gray whiskers now turned askew, revealed to the astonished by islanders the sin hardened features of the long lost Roaring Pete.
 "Euchred, by G-dp yelled Seth. "But it will be our turn tomorrow. :"
 
 When Christmas day dawned on Sloppy Gulch the snow was still fall ing-a marked contrast in it's purity, to the blackness of the human sin it covered as it fell.
 From one of the branches of a whitened tree swung the corpse of a newly hanged man.
 So perished Roaring Pete, the first and last preacher who came to Sloppy Gulch.